Stoke City v Liverpool tips – back Potters to claim first leg lead

Two evenly-matched teams clash at the Britannia Stadium on Tuesday night, with one of Stoke or Liverpool set to be lining up in the Capital One Cup final.

Manchester City and Everton lie in wait in the other half of the draw, with both the Potters and Reds glad to have avoided the former, although the bookies seem to think that Jurgen Klopp’s side are heavily likely to qualify for Wembley.

Liverpool are a best price 2/5 with Paddy Power to reach the final, although we should note that they exited the FA Cup semis at the hands of Aston Villa last term and also that Stoke are probably on a par with them right now.

Mark Hughes saw his team lose 2-1 at West Brom on Saturday although they had previously beaten Manchester United and Everton to suggest they could be challenging for a top six spot this season.

Indeed, they have made the Britannia a fortress against the top sides this term, having also beaten Manchester City and Chelsea (twice), with Hughes now having some exciting attacking players to face opponents.

Liverpool are no sort of price to win this game. True, they did beat Southampton 6-1 at St Mary’s to book their place in the last four of the competition, although their recent form has been poor.

Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Upton Park means just two wins from the past seven matches and there have been recent reverses at Newcastle, Watford and West Ham.

Klopp seems to be finding life hard after an initial honeymoon period at Anfield and we’re backing Stoke to draw first blood on Tuesday.